Treasurer Joe Hockey says `words are bullets' and Fairfax Media has conducted a relentless campaign against him since publishing articles which defamed him and implied he could be bought.
Mr Hockey is suing Fairfax over articles published in its Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers on May 5, 2014, under the headline "Treasurer for sale".
The stories examined the North Sydney Forum, a networking and political fundraising body in Mr Hockey's electorate, through which members who paid an annual fee were able to meet the treasurer at special events.
Giving evidence in the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday, Mr Hockey said a Sydney Morning Herald story on May 6, detailing the Australian Labor Party charging $3,000 for a lunch with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, continued to damage him because it repeated details of the NSF story.
"Fairfax has been running a relentless campaign against me since those articles were published," Mr Hockey said.
While he was only mentioned in one paragraph, Mr Hockey said: "That's all it takes. Words are bullets".
Mr Hockey said the May 6 article treated Mr Shorten's matter differently because "the Herald's not suggesting Mr Shorten is receiving money or is buyable".
Fairfax is defending the suit and is expected to argue that it was in the public interest to publish details about the North Sydney Forum.
In his affidavit, Mr Hockey referred to an ABC radio interview in which an academic used the word "corruption" when discussing the NSF story.
"When you combine the name of a politician with the word 'corruption' in any circumstance it has only one meaning: that they can be bought," he said.
Mr Hockey rejected a suggestion from Fairfax's counsel, Matthew Collins QC, that the NSF offered "preferred access" to the treasurer to people who paid the private patron's membership fee of $22,000.
"You accept, don't you, that the ordinary person in the street doesn't get to come to a private VIP dinner, at which you are in attendance, without paying $22,000?" Dr Collins asked.
Mr Hockey said he spoke at many dinners and functions, such as Rotary Club and Country Women's Association events and was "engaged with people all the time".
"Anyone who asks me for a meeting, we move heaven and earth to give them that meeting," he said.
Asked by Dr Collins if he gave "private VIP meetings" to people in the street, Mr Hockey said he had.
"They are the VIP in the world I occupy," he said.
The hearing continues.
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